Thursday, May 5, 2011

National Association of Attorneys General correspondence

From: RDShatt@aol.com
To: rdshatt@aol.com
Sent: 4/17/2011 10:14:47 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Thanks for contacting http://www.naag.org/. Someone will get back to you soon.

Re: Attorney general offices should expand

[above is online confirm of sending below online to NAAG]

Re: Attorney general offices should expand

Dear Mr. McPherson,While I have no credentials, I am making public advocacy that attorney general offices should expand. You may find a brief statement of the reasons I am making this advocacy at this link (http://robertshattuck.blogspot.com/2011/04/attorney-general-offices-should-expand.html) in my blog How To Combat Plainitiffs' Lawyers.The reason I am contacting you as the Executive Director of the National Association of Attorneys General is that I wish to identify one or more attorneys general who are receptive to my advocacy and its reasons and rationale and would like to be a public spokesperson on behalf of the advocacy in question.Are you in a position to refer me to some attorneys general who you think would be interested in the advocacy in question or to someone on the staff of the NAAG who might help me out?

I have initiated contact with Attorney General Strange's office per this link. I hope Attorney General Strange will take up the advocacy I am advocating. I still wish to contact attorneys general in states other than my home state of Alabama in order to find someone who wishes to be a public spokesperson. If you think this is not something to be run through NAAG, I can proceed in a more direct fashion.

I have emailed most of the attorneys general. We'll see whether I get any takers.

I see from the BRIEFING PAPER PRESENTED BY NAAG TO PRESIDENTELECTOBAMA AND THE TRANSITION TEAM that one of the biggest concerns of attorneys general is about Federal preemption.

As a citizen, ideally I hope the motivation for the resistance of attorneys general to Federal preemption is principled and for the benefit of the citizens the Federal and state governments are supposed to serve, and that there are not turf tussles going on that are not helpful for the citizens.

I think I have enunciated a very principled advocacy for the expansion of attorney general offices and a corresponding encroachment on the domain of plaintiffs' attorneys.

I appreciate that attorneys general are probably more inclined to do battle against the Feds headquartered in Washington DC, than against local plaintiffs' lawyers who are in their respective home states.

Nonetheless I wish to try to encourage attorneys general and NAAG to give fair consideration of the advocacy I have enunciated in favor of the expansion of the domain of attorneys general at the expense of plaintiffs' lawyers.

If this is something NAAG would like to explore, I would be thrilled to help out.

My pushing also sometimes terminates communication, and I will understand if that happens here.

Let me push NAAG (try to box NAAG in) with this rephrasing:

Can NAAG and all the attorneys general agree that the citizens of the respective states are entitled to be informed and should be informed about the issue in question, and can you on behalf of NAAG say that publicly?

I have taken the liberty of copying and pasting below, and bold facing certain language, from the "about NAAG" webpage. The bold faced language seems inconsistent with what you say in your email, but, not to worry, that is neither here nor there, and I understand.

I would say that my interest and concern as a citizen are legitimately national in scope. I have not limited and will not limit myself to Alabama in communicating to or with attorneys general, legislators, and fellow citizens, albeit that attorneys general and legislators in other states may recognize only citizens in their respective states. If you are interested, you will be able to keep up with my activities in my blog.

Best wishes,

Rob Shattuck

[below from "about NAAG" webpage, with certain language boldfaced]

About NAAG

About the Association

The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) was founded in 1907 to help Attorneys General fulfill the responsibilities of their office and to assist in the delivery of high quality legal services to the states and territorial jurisdictions. NAAG’s mission is: "To facilitate interaction among Attorneys General as peers and to facilitate the enhanced performance of Attorneys General and their staffs." NAAG fosters an environment of "cooperative leadership," helping Attorneys General respond effectively - individually and collectively - to emerging state and federal issues.The Association fosters interstate cooperation on legal and law enforcement issues, conducts policy research and analysis of issues, conducts training, and facilitates communication between the states’ chief legal officers and all levels of government. The Association’s members are the Attorneys General of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and the chief legal officers of the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico (Secretary of Justice) and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

The Attorneys General

The Attorney General is popularly elected in 43 states, as well as in Guam, and is appointed by the governor in five states (Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Wyoming) and in the four jurisdictions of American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. In Maine, the Attorney General is selected by secret ballot of the legislature and in Tennessee, by the state Supreme Court. In the District of Columbia, the Mayor appoints the Attorney General whose powers and duties are similar to those of the Attorneys General of the states and jurisdictions.As chief legal officers of the states, commonwealths, and territories of the United States, the Attorneys General serve as counselors to state government agencies and legislatures, and as representatives of the public interest. It is often said that Attorneys General occupy the intersection of law and public policy, dealing in areas as diverse as child support enforcement, drug policy, and environmental protection.

In many areas traditionally considered the exclusive responsibility of the federal government, the Attorneys General now share enforcement authority. Indeed, a major trend of the last several years has been the increasingly cooperative working relationships the Attorneys General have forged with their federal counterparts, particularly in the areas of trade regulation, environmental enforcement, and criminal justice.Typical powers of the Attorneys General, while varying from one jurisdiction to the next due to statutory and constitutional mandates, now include the authority to: institute civil suits; represent state agencies; defend and/or challenge the constitutionality of legislative or administrative actions; enforce open meetings and records laws; revoke corporate charters; enforce antitrust prohibitions against monopolistic enterprises; and enforce air, water pollution, and hazardous waste laws. In a majority of states, handle criminal appeals and serious state-wide criminal prosecutions; intervene in public utility rate cases; and enforce the provisions of charitable trusts.

Goals of the Association

NAAG’s goals are to:

Identify, produce, and disseminate key information related to the independence, scope, and management of the office of the Attorney General;

Create and maintain a collegial network among the chief legal officers of the states and jurisdictions by providing a meeting ground for cooperation and learning;

Promote cooperation and coordination on interstate legal matters to foster an even more responsive and efficient legal system for state citizens;

Advise the federal government on issues of concern to state Attorneys General through the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute, provide training to staff involving the enhancement of legal skills and the exploration of significant legal developments and emerging trends. ;

Increase citizen understanding of the law and law enforcement's role to ensure both protection of individual rights and compliance with the law;

Influence the development of national and state legal policy through such means as Supreme Court advocacy training and dialogue with other national, state, and local policy makers and pursue policy objectives as determined by the membership

The article says: "The campaign against drug-company CEOs is part of a larger Obama administration effort to pursue individual executives blamed for wrongdoing rather than simply punishing companies."

Yes, I believe this is an extremely important issue for lawmakers, judges, regulators, governmental prosecutors, state attorneys general, ethics and corporate governance professionals, chambers of commerce, and citizens. I think it is an issue worthy of NAAG policy research and analysis for the benefit of NAAG's member attorneys general, who, as you say, can "take that work and craft their own positions".

Needless to say, I would love for NAAG to take up the issue, and I would love to lend a helping hand.